3rd Transfer: Week 2 ~ "It Was A Hard Week"

Before I take my time and read all of your e-mails I decided to write you this e-mail first and tell you about my week.

We are giving Dave a break. He is going back to his Pentacostal church. Sunday we had a great time at church. President B came and gave a talk and gave a lesson 3rd hour. It was wonderful!! He talked about hastening the work. As he was talking I thought of you mom, because I remember you telling me about your patriarchal blessing and family history work. There is work being done across the veil so we need to hasten the work here for the dead also. We will need 1000 years (Millenium) to get temple work done. You know why? Because ALL OF THIS TIME since Moses and Abraham and Bible times, up until Joseph Smith there were temples, but there are no records of temple work actually being done. So thats why we have millions upon millions of people that we have no names and records for. So in the Millenium we will be getting all of their work accomplished. Pretty cool huh? How merciful and loving our Father in Heaven is. He wants to give ALL OF US a chance to receive all the blessings that he has. I just love my Savior and my Father in Heaven. I can honestly say my relationship with my Savior has been magnified.

I have the pictures from the airport but Brittany has the other pictures on her camera (the ones with me and her when she took me to the MTC). So I will send you some pictures. That was a horrible morning. I remember it perfectly. I had to leave you guys so fast to go to the MTC. I just miss my family. I pray for all of you every day and pray for you to have strength and the health to continue on throughout your day so you can take care of Lauren. The work I have been doing here has really opened my eyes. As your daughter I could have helped you a LOT more around the house. Washing dishes doesn't take much.. doing my own laundry isn't much. Helping you cook would be a blast and helping out with Lauren...I just miss it! Technology just takes you away from your family and I hate it. So I can not wait to be with you all again and actually contribute and help out.

Oh I sent your package today!! I sent Lauren some little dresses. They may be too small but they stretch so just use them as shirts with her little pants or some thing :) That just shows you how small the kids are here in Jamaica! So you will be getting your box in about 6 months .... haha Just kidding! Not that long but maybe a couple of weeks I don't know. But I sent it off , so be looking for it! :)

(Are you keeping a journal?) Yeah I write in my journal almost every night before I go to bed. So don't worry about my journal entries. I am almost done with my journal. I am going to have to buy another one :) I am just so relieved that I actually mailed the box today!! I am so excited for all of you to recieve your things! :)

(We have a sister missionary here who says that she knew Mackenzie in the MTC) I totally met that sister missionary. She is short with blonde hair. Right when you said that I knew exactly who she was. Her mission was San Antonio Texas mission so she and the others combined with our district the second week I was there. I talked to her. She is older than all of us. She is so cute isn't she?! Tell her I said hey and hope she is enjoying her mission. I love you mom thanks for the spiritual uplifting encouragement. Sorry I didn't say much about investigators and things. It was just a hard week. I can't think of any spiritual moments I had because I just want to talk to my family!! I didn't take pictures at all this week but I did this morning. So I do have some pictures. We went to the beach today for our P-Day it was nice for a change!

(Do pictures make you homesick?) NO I love receiving pictures. It makes me miss home but I LOVE seeing the pictures so I can see you guys and see how you guys are doing and what you are up to.

I have a request. I need you to please send me my clarisonic brushes.. the rest of those.. and I need some shirts that are circled at the top. They only sell shirts here that have a v-neck and the shirts are for really, really, really skinny people. Their sizes run soooo small and as Americans we are more big boned. Poor us.

(Do you need skirts?) Yes. Many of mine are too heavy. I need real breezy ones. I like the green one its nice. It wrinkles easily but its nice. I like the brown skirt I got from the missionary store. That skirt is nice and the dirt cheap skirts are like the best skirts for here. But whatever you find will be good. Thank you mom. That would be great if you could send those for me whenever you get the chance. No worries :)

Also I will do my best to get a picture with Sister Rose. She is always in her bed either asleep or in pain so its going to have to be on a day where she is feeling her best. I don't know if I will even be here to deliver your letters to her. I might be getting transferred next transfer which is in like 3 weeks. I sure hope I don't go to another island. I want to stay in Jamaica. Oh man.. Jamaica is my home. I am comfortable here and going to another island is another country. Their money is different and rules and driving is different. In the Bahamas you have the wheel on one side of the car and you drive on the same side of the road that the wheel is on which makes driving even harder. Doesn't make sense. So I don't want to go to another country. I would like to stay in Jamaica :) Also its very humbling here.. and great experiences. All of the missionaries that come back to Jamaica from another island always say that they miss Jamaica because Jamaica is the mission. We are involved more. Also if I get sent to another island I will be there for at least 6 to 9 months. Pres will send me wherever he is prompted to send me.. I swear. Heavenly Father really does have a sense of humor. I know I will get sent to the Bahamas since that is the only island I do not want to go to. You watch. HAHA! I swear he likes to put me in situations to get a laugh. I have to laugh because I know that every trial and everything I go through is because Heavenly Father is reshaping and refining me to become the person he wants me to become. He truly is something else. But I appreciate everything He does for me. We just have to pray to him always and gain that relationship because once we do, we appreciate everything in our everyday lives. Even in the hardest times.

In my trials I always remember 2 Nephi chapter 4. Nephi was such a good leader. He had brothers who tied him down to a ship! and this chapter is right before his father dies. When he is going to have to either be with his evil brothers or leave. He was close to his dad. So I can only imagine what he is going through in this time. That chapter amazes me in his wordings. It always uplifts me. So every time I go through some thing hard, I read 2 Nephi chapter 4 to build me back up. To remember to always give thanks to my Lord and Savior and to my Father for everything I go through. And to lift my voice and to rejoice! So when you get the time read that chapter :) I actually recently shared that with President L who is going through a hard time and i know it helped him. This branch is bad with sustaining their leaders and he feels like giving up so I gave him this chapter.

(Do you have another senior couple yet?) Not yet, but they will be coming in this week I believe. Sister H called us this past week and I just had to tell her that I miss her!!! She said that she will make a time to come back up to Ochi! They were the best senior couple. They made me laugh all the time. Elder H always said " Hello I am Elder H and I am from Canada" HAHAHAHA! Oh man.. good times.

Oh did I tell you that me and Sister B had to sing with the Relief Society one Sunday ?? and I DIED LAUGHING! You know me. The singing was horrible!!! I laughed sooo hard. I swear Sister B and some sisters looked at me and laughed too. Yeah I swear I did not sing one word. I laughed the whole time! We sang "True to the Faith" and noone was singing in tune. It sounded like a funeral! I DIED LAUGHING. Almost peed my pants! We actually had a guy come who works with President B. and he brought his wife. It was conference or something so it was a big deal to and here I am in the very front row.. laughing!! It was horrible :) good memory haha.

Okay, So Aunt (M's Mom) says that you guys are preparing a husband for me already. She says you already know him. So when I come home I am expecting you guys to give me my husband. HAHA! just kiddin. Aunt is soo funnnyyyy. She thinks she knows my future :) She is hilarious I swear.

(Nephi applied for a job at Randolph) THATS AWESOME!! Trust me. I will be praying REALLY hard for that!! but you need to remember if it be the Lords will it will happen but in his time. So don't get discouraged if it doesn't happen. But thats awesome! I hope he really does get it! Make sure to have Adam help you out mom. I worry about you , you do a lot. You need to relax! You stress yourself out some times. Please remember to take your medicine and go to bed on time. I pray for you all the time so you can have the health and the strength that you need each and every day.

I am sooo glad that all of you are doing good. When do you all go on your road trip to Utah? Oh by the way! I hope you all have such a wonderful 4th of JULY!!! Take pictures for me! :) I will be thinking of you guys this Friday for sure! Be safe there!

Well family I love you!! Tell Lauren that I lovee her soo much!

-Sis Judd

3rd Transfer: Week 1 ~ "This Week Has Been a Success!"

As usual Mackenzie and I got to chat this week. I'm a little spoiled:). You will notice that some things may not go together just right because I try to combine what we chatted about with her email. I hope you enjoy hearing about her experiences. Notice how many times she says it was a great week:). We're so proud of our sweet missionary:). 

HEY MOMMMMYYYY!!!!!!!

So I am glad that you switched the days so Destiny can come to Activity Days! I just loved her when I was there, of course I remember her! She is such a sweet heart. Thank you for the touching words you started to make me tear up a bit. Thank you Mom! So this week has been a success! Really struggling week but it was a success. I know that my determination and Sister B's determination has paid off! We have really been working our booties off. We had 2 investigators and 4 less actives come to church!! SAY WHAT?!! It was amazing!! The less actives were Sister R, Sister B, and Brother J. Our investigators were D and M. We have been working so hard with them and they are finally acting upon their desires. It was just our part to help them strengthen that desire and they have. I just love these people so very much.

D came to church and yesterday we brought R and T to his lesson which was PERFECT! They understood everything that he was going through in the Pentacostal church. It was a perfect lesson. We extended him a date and so he will be working towards July 6th for baptism :) We have been teaching D for 3 months! and we have finally given him a date because we are confident in where he is at. This gospel makes him so happy and thats what I love to see. This week though, D told us that he didn't want to take anymore of the lessons cause his wife was saying we are devils because in the Pentacostal church all of the other religions are of the devil. So he was avoiding our calls and stuff. Then I told Sister B that we should just show up at his house Saturday night and she said "YEAH". So that's exactly what we did. We got him at his house and had a lesson and talked about his concerns and he said he was confused about baptisms for the dead. So I explained the WHOLE thing. I felt like I was teaching the whole lesson poor Sister B, but the Spirit was telling me a ton of things to say! So I had to say it. And after I explained he totally understood and said " I will be coming to church tomorrow." WOW! I just know that as long as you follow the Spirit everything comes out perfectly because only our Heavenly Father knows what they need to hear. I am just his servant, whatever he needs me to do and say I obey. That is definitely some thing I have learned since I have been out here serving. Really recognizing the Spirit.

We had success. Me and Sister B really did park the car and went around LH talking to everyone we pretty much saw. And by doing that we have 12 new investigators this week. We have taught so many people, SUCCESS. I feel great about this week. I also taught Gospel Principles class and I had no idea I was teaching but I was not worried cause I knew the Spirit would guide me, and let me tell you HE DID. I talked about fasting and everyone said they loved the lesson I gave. So another SUCCESS. I just feel great about this week! But this week was great. We had a fun Friday night activity as well at President L's house. We played a lot of singing and dancing games (Jamaican games) with the Elders and everyone. Sooooo it was a great week. I am very happy with how it went.

Rinsing Clothes

Here are some pics:

Rinsing some clothes for Brother H! :) This is how we wash and rinse clothes here in Jamaica. We love to wash. Sister B didn't know that we were getting our picture taken though. I have another picture with her smiling cause she wanted a redo but I like that picture better. It looks more real :) haha!

Our new Tri Companionship

This is our new companion, Sister W at transfers in Spanish Town. Sister W is a sweetheart. She doesn't know how to speak any English. She speaks pure Patois but don't worry I understand and I speak it too (don't tell President B) HAHA. The language is so fun and easy. I love it.

Jelly Coconut

This is J cutting a Jelly Coconut. We drink the water and eat the jelly. Its really good. J sells us fruit up in LH. He is a rasta man who loves us sister missionaries. (Pres B asked her to eat more than just mac n' cheese) Since I got your box I have been eating my mac n cheese :) haha. Trust me I eat my mac n cheese.

(We're going to Utah and Idaho to visit Brittany and pick up Chandler. Lauren and Nephi will be flying) Oh and YOUR GOING TO UTAH?!!!!! FLYING ON AN AIRPLANE? MY LITTLE LAUREN?!! OH MY i hope she doesn't get scared my poor baby sister. Hopefully she will get used to airplanes so we can all fly to Jamaica when I come home :D That would be fun!! I will pray for their safety. And you be safe on the road ya hear?! lol. I am jealous I LOVE road trips :( but the work is better out here in Jamaica ;) tell my siblings I love them!

A Road in LH

I can't believe my birthday is coming up in
August... I am going to be 20.. I can't believe it.. it feels like I just came out of the MTC. I have been out for almost 4 months. Pretty cool. Time is going to fly by. I can't wait for road trips with my family. I already miss my family.. but I do my best to focus on the work. Mentioning BIRTHDAYS . YOUR BIRTHDAY IS COMING UP!! SO HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY MOTHER :) LOVE YOU!!!

Activity at Pres. L's House

Oh yes, I got my box and I absolutely LOVE IT! Thank you so much I love my shirts. I am actually wearing my Jamaica shirt right now :)...the green one. I love it cause it has my 2nd country on it :) and my skittles and the photo albums. You
made me tear up when I saw my family album. Thank you so much for them. The box meant so much to me. No I have not received Grandma's box. If she didn't send it through DHL it probably will take a little longer to get here. I LOVE MY HEADBANDS. so cute :) I loved the plan of salvation chart! I was so excited because its a visual and as we teach, the people will understand more. So thank you so much for them! Mentioning boxes.. I tried mailing the one I made for you guys but I have to wrap it with something AND Sister B is going to have to put her information to send it so the name might be Suzan B but it's from me. She just has a TRN and I don't cause I wasn't born here in Jamaica. So just an update. I will send it in the morning though.

One thing about Jamaica is that everyone calls me a whitey... I hate it... Its annoying. Can I just be part of their people? HAHA! Its cute though cause everyone loves white people. One thing Sister B told me is that in Africa there a lot of white people but Jamaica is the country that is full of black people. That's why they have a black strip in their flag. They pretty much run this country. It's rare to find white people who live here.

Most of the sisters are Jamaican. Most Jamaicans who choose to serve a mission, 9 out of 10, are called to this mission because its their country.. and it only makes sense. They understand what the people go through and they know how this country is ran. Plus we are trying to hasten the work here. The weird thing is that this mission is pretty much a sisters mission. Since we have gotten more sisters we have had more baptisms. Especially with the Jamaican sisters. Its a great balance. Because I am American and my 2 sweet sisters are Jamaican it helps me. It makes me feel good because they know how they can help the people find jobs with different programs they have here. In their schools they had to know their Bible. As for me I don't know anything about my Bible except Genesis and that part grossed me out.. so I will pick it up again and try to read it. But its great to have Jamaican sisters here in the mission. Some Jamaican missionaries can go off island but its not likely. I hope I stay in Jamaica for my whole mission. I would not like to go off island so pray for me. HAHA.

This mission is very hard because the churches here are not even developed. The missionaries pretty much run the churches here. All the members are converts from missionaries and thats why they are all so close to the missionaries. Some Elders here in the mission are Branch Presidents. So it's a very different but awesome experience. Its a good challenge. Our little Branch is getting better :) By the way! I forgot to tell you...the H's are gone. They are in the office now in Kingston :( I am so sad!! I don't know who the new senior couples are but we will see them in July. And we got a new elder. Elder K is gone. He went to Linstead but he e-mailed me today which is nice! and the new elder is Elder H. He is a nice guy. But I miss the H's and Elder K. Oh well.. missionary life.

(I told her that we are going to Jamaica right after she comes home) SERIOUSLY?!!! YAYY I AM SO EXCITED!! are we going to rent a vehicle? Because if we are I will totally drive yall everywhere! I don't trust dad or you driving here in Jamaica. I would bring you guys here first :) You have to taste every single fruit that I have tasted while being here! hahaha!

Guess what?! Chandler e-mailed me! He is the funniest! He wants to come to Jamaica when I come home too! He is excited about that. I love Chan, me and him had the best times! But this mission will go by so fast before you know it I will be home!! :)

(After hearing about all of her experiences I mentioned that it seems like she is the senior companion) Yeah thats what everyone tells me. The missionaries always say they would have never known that I was new out on my mission by how confident I am in what I say and do. But Idk...maybe its a spiritual gift that I have. I guess its just by reading the Book of Mormon and understanding how the Lord works. All you have to do is rely on him, have courage, not boast in your own strength and be patient in all of your (my) afflictions. We really do have negative things said about us. As we were walking around LH and I was hearing people laugh at us and mocking us as we walk by, I just thought about my Savior and what he has gone through. We are here to hasten the work. I like to laugh because they won't be laughing in the last day when they will be judged according to their works. But mom time is up I have to go. I LOVE YOU ALL and am so happy that all of you are doing well and safe!!! LOVE YOU!!

2nd Transfer: Week 6 ~ TRANSFER CALLS!!

So we got transfer calls Saturday morning and guess what?!!!!!!! I am going to............... haha just kidding. I am staying here with Sister B! whoop whoop! Sister B was SOO HAPPY! But there is a little twist. We will be getting another sister! so we will be a Tri Companionship! Now we have to add another bed in our room. Its going to be a party every night! haha just kidding... actually I don't think I'm kidding. The new sister is Sister W. She has been out for almost 8 months. It will be fun!! We are so excited to get her. She went with Sister B on the temple trip so they know each other well. She is another Jamaican sister :) Which is legit. So I am happy. We will be going to Spanish Town on Wed. for the transfers. I can't wait to talk to you next monday and tell you how our new companion is doing :)

This week has been pretty nice. We have gotten a couple new investigators. The work is going really well. D is awesome. We talked to him about the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation and it was like a light bulb lit up in his head! It was hilarious he was like "THIS MAKES SENSE". He immediately started to chat like crazy because of his excitement. So he will be ready for baptism in no time. He is divorcing his wife who called us devils because she doesn't want to live in his humble home. She has been complaining and said she wants a divorce. She wants to live with her mother. So now he is focusing on himself and his relationship with his Heavenly Father. Which is perfect! So we are excited for him. We keep him in our prayers so hopefully he will be ready for baptism in no time. We dropped R... don't ask... he just wants to be baptized for a reason he doesn't even know about. He texts and calls us all the time which is getting creepy and he stands us up when we wait for him (for like an hour) at the church to do a lesson with him. So we told him we are not doing this anymore. When he is ready to be serious he can give us a call.

We went up to LH this week, parked the truck and literally walked the whole town to find new investigators. Me and Sister B are fed up with driving everywhere and seeing the same people. Brother W says that LH has needs. So me and Sister B were like "Perfect! Lets walk and get new investigators and pass out pamphlets" and thats exactly what we did. We just walked and talked to people on the street and at their homes and they are willing for us to come back and teach them :) Isn't that amazing? We walk through the forest to get to our people, but its worth it. They are children of God and we gotta hasten this work!:) I just love Brother W he is so cute. So now we have a lot of new people we will be seeing up in LH. I am excited :) We have B, J, C, C, and some families that are friends with Brother W. So its perfect. Oh, and W and some guy that we call rasta man.:) It is definitely time to harvest because they have seen missionaries walk around before but they haven't talked to them. We talk to everybody now because Jamaica is really hastening and we want a temple here!! :)

We went and did service for Sister N. We washed! I love washing by hand it is so fun. I feel like I'm on a movie some days. I pretend I get stranded on an island and have to wash my own clothes to survive. I know I am weird but the life of a missionary can be boring at times you have to be creative :) HAHA! Here's another weird experience. After church we were waiting to have our missionary meeting and this guy, that we always see begging for money at the Scotia Bank, came and knocked on our church door. Me and Sister B were the ones by the door so I went to go answer. I said "yes?". He said, "I need some food". I told him "we don't have food and I cannot give out any money". He then started saying me and Sister B are not Christians because we don't help him. We were like "okay whatever sir" (he is in his 20's). Then he said I was very rude that I just pass by him everytime he asks. I said, "SIR WE CANNOT GIVE YOU ANY MONEY!" I then told him to leave because I was getting so aggravated!!! He then said that he was going to get his gunman friends to come find us and shoot us. Even though that stuff is real here (people really do have gunman in our area...they come out at night) I am not scared whatsoever. You really have to be bold here or you will be walked all over. We recently had a shooting near our house area...near where M lives. So thank goodness we were not at her house that night. But no worries we are safe! A lot of shootings go on here in our area and we have to be very cautious but its good mom we won't get shot I promise :)

This week has been amazing!! I have some new pictures to show you guys :). I am trying to take as many pictures as possible so I can show my kids and my family all about my mission and the crazy experiences I had. haha :)

Walking in the bush

So we are proselyting in LH. Walking around trying to find new investigators. As you can tell we walk in the bush to get to their houses :) This is Brother W at his house to :)

Brother W

I bought all of the things for you guys. I made a plan with Sister B to get all of the things today.. pack it up today.. then mail it off tomorrow. Hopefully I can do it :) The lake sounds like a lot of fun by the way.... not going to lie. Its been very hot here in Jamaica as well...I don't know how hot it gets but I just know it is hot. :) I love you Mom! and I heard that Fathers day was good for dad. He says he got a new grill :) thats legit. Glad he enjoyed yesterday!

I enjoyed your e-mail and know that you guys are in Del Rio for a reason. There are positive things happening for you guys there in Texas. If I come home to Texas I won't be upset. I have been thinking here and I'm thinking about going to BYU Idaho. I don't know what I am going to do when I get back home. Its something I am going to have to pray about.

Sister A! She's awesome:)

We had trade off's this week and I was with Sister A! She is a new Sister Training Leader and she was so much fun! We are at Brother W's. I love Sister A. She was awesome. :)

"Football"

So this is up in LH. We were waiting for Brother H (near the end of the day) and decided to talk to Brother W while watching some kids play "Football" (Soccer) which was fun.

Then the other picture is Me, Sister B and Sister V. She is 6'3 and I just love her to death! She used to be a model because she is so tall. She is hilarious. She has been through so much but she is a strong member of the church. We take her out to lessons with us sometimes. We wanted a picture of us looking like the verizon bars!

The Verizon Bars!:)

(I mentioned our ant problem) Talking about ants.... you're lucky they aren't in the house. I constantly have to kill ants on our counters. Some got in my brown sugar the other day.. i had to dump it all out.. it was a pain. I just remembered I stepped in an ant pile and I got bit up really bad by the ants. It hurts! I have never got bit by ants before in my life. It hurt bad! I just went grocery shopping so there might not be such money in the bank acccount.. I am trying to cook more food so I can be healthier.. I have been eating mac N cheese. and I told President B that in my interview and he didn't like that to much so we joked back and forth and I told him I will do better with cooking actual food. haha!

This is a nice picture.The Island just stops and its complete ocean. I loveee this view. This was up by Sister N's house.

"I loveee this view"

Well Mom its almost time for me to get off the computer, just wanted to let you know that I love you all and miss you all! I am staying safe and I hope you all stay safe as well. I pray for you guys every night because I worry about my family. Sooooooooo stay safe. Love you Mom and I hope you are still feeling good every day :) I will try and send the package tomorrow for you guys. I am so happy to know all of you are doing fantastic at home and that all of you are healthy and safe! I will enjoy my box I am soo excited to get it!! Love you!!

-Sister Judd

2nd Transfer: Week 5 ~ Already 3 Months?!

Thanks for the novel mom! But I love seeing all that my family is up to. So I got all of the things that I want to send to you guys, I just need to mail the box now. Hopefully I will send the package to you guys this week. I really thought about what to give to you guys. I think you all will have a kick out of the box. Could you send Brittanys things to her when you get them in the box? and Chandlers thing as well? How bout this, I pay for the box and you can just pay me back on my account? That would just be easier.. But I cannot wait to send it!

I am glad everyone is doing good and yes my 3 month mark is this Thursday!!! I cannot believe it. Time has flown by. R was not baptized because he is just not ready. I figured out that all he cares about is baptism but he is not learning anything else about our church. He hears our lessons but he doesn't listen and apply it. So we still need to work with him some more. He relapsed one night with the ganja smoking so we are helping him through it. He has the desire to get baptized so he will get himself there. He just wants to be baptized and he doesn't even know this gospel? So he thinks of this as a test to pass for him to be baptized. I had to be bold with him and tell him he cannot be baptized til he gains a testimony and learns this gospel. I then told him that the Holy Ghost lets me and Sister B know when he is ready or when he is in need of more lessons. So he knows that now and is working on it. His next baptismal date is June 22. So hopefully he will be ready by then. The problem here is that they are not strong members so most of them are inactive. We figured that was the problem (baptizing too early) with the past missionaries. They were just baptizing them because they were close to the missionaries and not this gospel. So frustrating. So we have to go in and re teach them. We are doing our best to strengthen them.

D didn't show up to church because his wife has never met us. She is an active Pentacostal and he told her about us. She called us devils that are going to take him astray so that messed up his thoughts, but we will be seeing him this week. We will actually be taking T and R up there to see D because they used to be Pentacostal. I can just see D becoming a member so I am not giving up on him.

Sister R had her surgery, she is alive but she is in pain. I talked to President L about the pen pal, he did not get back with me but I know he is hesitant about that. So If you want mom you can send me a letter for Sister R. All those who want to send letters (Activity Day girls and YW) to her family can send the letters to the mission home (addressed to me) and I can hand them to her when she gets back home. Just put all the letters in a little box. I think she would love that :) A.,who is Sister R's daughter, is 13 or 14 around that age. She is the cutest girl and is a good example in the church. I just love her. By the way, I am sending you some pictures!

This is Sister B and I with S:) So our church is a room and when we get out of the room we come into this hallway. This is right outside of the room after church :) S is an investigator. She fixed my hair one day but she doesn't do hair she has her own clothing store. Its a family owned place. She said she wants to meet my family. I just love her. You like my dress?! I LOVED it when I saw it!! Thank you :)

In the hallway after church

Elder Holland was here speaking because we have a new stake now (we fasted for him to find the Stake President). Then he talked to the youth on Sunday. The missionaries around that area got to go. I was so mad! I wanted to go so bad. Sister N didn't make it to church but she happened to make it to go see Elder Hollands talk to the youth yesterday. So I don't know..in Sister N's case it is transportation as well as not enough dedication. But its okay tho. I am glad she went to take her children to see Elder Holland. Most of the members from our Branch went. President L figured out the bus situation for them to go.

Things are getting rough. Satan is working on the people we are teaching. Its ANNOYING. Although, we had S come to church for the first time!!! We have been talking to her for months and she finally came. ( I have a picture I will show you) and R came to church as well. Um one story that happened a long time ago was that I almost got bitten by a dog. I don't think I ever mentioned that to you but I did. I really think angels held him back because he was running like crazy after me and at the right moment someone came out and started to yell at the dog. I was soooo close to being bit. I didn't know anything could hold that dog back but I believe angels were there! Sister B laughs about it to this day! HAHAHA!! One thing this week was that a couple of murders has happened in our area.... very sad. A group of guys ganged up on 2 men because they were driving a truck full of food. They shot one man 17 times and the other man more than 17 times so we really have to be cautious in this area. But I am not scared! I have a lot of faith mom trust me :) No worries here.

This is the road we drive down to get to our area

Nothing else really big happened this week just another week full of lessons. Me and Sister B just enjoy our time together while we drive. I feel this week was fine but Satan is really working on the people we teach but we are doing our best here. I am glad to know all of you are still alive and doing well! I hope all of you like the things that I bought for you! I had fun shopping for you guys :) and hopefully I can mail it some time this week if I have enough money. Mom, I am glad that you really thought about the work on the other side of the veil, because that is some thing that I have been teaching to Brother H and it is true. Missionaries are really teaching them and we get to do their work here on the earth because they are unable to do it since they are spirits. Its just a wonderful thing. The work is really hastening. I am nervous about transfers this week but I know whatever happens its what the Lord wants. I use that little green notebook with the white polka dots for the signings with the missionaries. So Sister B will write in it before she leaves.

The view out my window every morning

So this is our House. It's so hot in there. We open the windows and the fans work perfectly so we survive don't worry :) I am getting used to the weather (for safety reasons I won't be posting the pic of her house) . The other picture is the side of the house. That is what I see everytime I wake up in the morning and everytime we leave to go and proselyte.

I am glad Lauren was able to have fun at her cute little pool party! That is adorable I cannot wait to see her again.

(How do you find people's homes if there are no addresses?) We call them and they give us directions. They are patient with us about it! Like for example they say " when you see a blue trash can you take a right". They give us directions like that and then they stay out of their house and flag us down. Thats how we find them. But then after that its just by memory. It really is a rain forest here. We go up into the bush and mountains and stuff. Sometimes they live off the road. Its really like we are in the movie "Other Side of Heaven" let me tell you. But Jamaica is a BEAUTIFUL country :)

Brother W

So the guy in the blue shirt is Brother W. The one who gave me the coconut :) and the other picture is with Brother H. They are friends and everytime we go up to where they live we stop by and see them because they are recent converts.

Mosquitoes are real bad. My legs are bitten up but don't worry its okay. I will buy some bug spray today. We have bug spray in stuff in the house to prevent bugs but Sister B doesn't like the smell of the spray and she says we will die if we stay in the house with the bug spray in there. hahaha! But when she gets transfered (if she does) then I will be spraying down the house.

Brother H

Oh so I forgot to tell you that I actually had a dream about me coming back to DR and marrying a pilot. I'm not even kidding. It was a funny dream. So maybe you're supposed to stay there so I can marry myself a pilot. HAHA I am just kidding but I will keep praying for dad. I pray for my family every night so Heavenly Father will take you guys wherever he wants in his own due time. Which may stink I know.. but He knows better than we do :)You guys might be staying there for a while so just make the most of it :) Its going to be okay i promise! Just have faith Mother. I always tell the families we teach to have Family Home Evenings. So remember to have that each week as well and our family will be blessed :) I always tell the people I teach how when I was young we did Family Home Evenings and it brought our family close together. We grew together to be as one in purpose and to help each other out in this gospel. I tell them the blessings they can receive by doing Family Home Evening. So we have been doing it with the N family and the N family. I really do like FHE.I can't remember the scripture but there's one scripture that I have been sharing like crazy this week. I forgot to bring my scriptures so next time I will share.

Sister B

These are the mountains in our area and we are with Sister B who is less active. She lives there.

The mountains in our area

(I'm always wanting to send her things to help the people there) Mom don't get too carried away :) I am okay.. I am doing all that I can here as a missionary. Like you said I can not look like Santa Claus. "Ho Ho Ho". Well Mom my time is up, I love you and am glad that all of you are doing well! Tell the family i love them. LLOVVVEE YOU!! I miss you guys even though I am loving my mission. Oh and make sure to write letters for Sister R and A :) That would be a fun activity for your girls! But I got to go LOVE YOU!

-Sis Judd

2nd Transfer: Week 4 ~ A Great Week!

I was so glad to hear about Mackenzie's  great week! We were able to chat some so, as always, you will notice some repeats or grammatical errors. I try to fit all of the information I receive into one post but it can be kind of tricky. Try to look over all of the mistakes:) She is having some great experiences. I'm so thankful:)

Hey MOMMMM!!! I am so glad that Lauren prays for Sister R that is so wonderful! Sister R is doing okay.. at this point she is in Montego Bay at the hospital. The doctors are preparing her for surgery on Thursday. It is a 50/50 chance . She either passes away or she lives. So we are always praying for her. I talked to President L about the pen pal thing and he was a little hesitant but he will be talking to Pres B about that idea. That would be nice for your activity day girls to write A. I just love her. A is the daughter of Sister R. So this week was great. We had 2 investigators and a less active that we have been teaching come to church yesterday! Their names are D, R and Bro. J. We are preparing R for baptism this Sunday so I am very excited! The lessons have been very good all week and I have really recognized the Spirit guiding me in knowing what to say. I just love every single day that we go out and proselyte. Its the best. The N family was not at church and neither were the N's because of Sister R. Sister N and Sister R are sisters. So they have been taking care of her. The N family is doing wonderful! Every time we go to their house we yell "Family where are you?!" We do that to the N's as well. We just call everyone our family because they are :) That's something I haven't told you. Every time we go and visit our investigators, less actives, recent converts instead of knocking you yell out to them. Just a little some thing you should know about our work here in Jamaica. FHE was fun, I gave the kids their bracelets and they absolutely loved them! I took a picture of me with the kids so I will send that to you (the girl on the right is a friend of the family's). I took a couple of pictures this week, not much but I think you will like them. I am really going to try to get my picture by a goat. I really want a picture with a goat because goats run wild here in Jamaica. They are free! Its hilarious.

We earned our bracelets!

We had a wonderful testimony meeting. There was this HILARIOUS testimony that was born by Brother B which is the first counselor in our little branch (which is growing immensely by the way) and he said that when the missionaries were teaching him he didn't care to be baptized. Then one day as he was walking down the stairs he sprained his foot and he said " Oh great now I am crippled because I didn't get baptized" HAHAHA!! We all died laughing! People here are soooo dramatic! If someone stubs a finger they will say "oh man I broke it!" they are hilarious. Sounds like me at times:) but that was a funny testimony. No other testimony really stuck out to me. A lot of murders have been going on here especially with people riding in taxis. President L's good friend was shot not too long ago and he was a taxi driver. I am just glad we have our own vehicle now. Got to stay safe because a lot of things are happening in our area right now but we are stayin safe. No worries :) Well mom I am glad that all of you had a good week and as for the package I don't really need anything else. If I need flip flops I can buy some here but thank you. I didn't get the chance to send the package to you guys yet because I still want to buy my Adam and Dad some thing then I will send the package I promise :) Sorry its been taking too long. Thank you mom for providing me money as well as dad. I was starving and had to get pizza hut! I tried to get the cheapest thing on there but it was soo filling! Thank goodness. It was nice to have pizza for a change. Well mom I love you and sorry that I didn't e-mail earlier on in the day. Me and Sister B went out to Moneague so a Sister from the Linstead Branch could braid her hair which took almost 5 hours! it was horribly long. Well, the curry crab was honestly not too bad. It was very spicy though . I was hesitant but I told myself I should try! haha it was hard for me because I saw us catch the crabs and now we are eating them.. oh man but I felt like a champ for trying! :)

Curry Crab

You just rip the legs off and suck out the meat. People here in Jamaica eat chicken bones and everything like nothing phases them. They didn't use anything fancy they just ripped the legs off and ate and did the same with the crab head. You know me I did not suck anything out from any sort of head. That's all Sister B. But the legs I did try :) I LOVE the last quote, thanks for sharing that with me mom. And Me and Sister B sing hymns all the time every day. Because there are days (I'm not going to lie) that I want to give up, but I know that's what Satan wants me to feel.

So Heavenly Father is mindful of me and is always teaching me every single day. The hymn that really helps me push and keep going is "Army of Helaman", "I will go where you want me to go" and "Praise to the Man". I love this gospel and I will do all it takes in me to spread this gospel here in Jamaica. I have been praying all the time for my investigators and for you guys and it is paying off. A hard investigator that we have been talking to for months we finally got to church on Sunday. His name is D. He is Pentecostal and he said he always knew that his church was not true because they believe in only Jesus Christ. But D knew that there was a Heavenly Father, Holy Ghost and Jesus Christ because he knows his bible. He was avoiding us for months but I got very bold with him Saturday night and said, "We don't want to waste your time and our time" and I bore my testimony and told him that this is the true church that he has been looking for but he isn't acting on coming to church or becoming close to his Heavenly Father. Something hit him that night and he came to church Sunday! He says he will do all in his power to not miss a Sunday. He loves this church and he even said that he knows this church to be the one and only true church. How amazing is that? I knew that he was worth it, we never gave up on him and it paid off. I am so happy for him. But it has been a wonderful week mom:)

(I'm so proud of you!) Thanks Mom, I am glad that you are proud of me. That makes me feel really good and I know Heavenly Father is to. Yeah Satan is really working on me and Sister B both... He was working hard on us but we always come out of it through prayer. But its alright!!! we just keep hastening the work. That's all that matters. I always think of the day when I am in front of my Savior in judgement day and him asking me "so how well did you make use of the time I gave you to serve your brothers and sisters?" and I want to stand there and say "I have done all that I can with all my might mind and strength!" with confidence. So that is what I am really working on. The work is really progressing because of the desire me and Sister B both have. It really does just bring happiness to us both. :)

(I've never heard of D) Yeah you haven't heard of D because I thought he was going nowhere. He wouldn't make the efforts and he always avoided us. But since he came to church, he said he would love to learn more and he has the desire to come to church every Sunday now!:)

(Do you still see T and R?) T and R we don't see anymore because we split the area with the elders. They get the main area while me and Sister B take the 8 other areas that we cover.. which is so far apart. R and T are in their area so we no longer can see them but.. oh well part of the mission. I don't even think Pres. B knows how big of an area that me and Sister B cover. Transfers are coming up next Saturday. Not this Saturday but next Saturday we get the transfer calls and June 12th will be my 3 month mark. I can't believe I have already been out for 3 months?! Time really does fly when you lose yourself in the work:)

So a cool thing that me and Sister B got was a 3 gallon box of ice cream only for 1,600 dollars. It has lasted us all week! It was awesome. That's one thing I really love about Jamaica. They sell boxes of ice cream hahaha. But I will be sending you some cool things from Jamaica soon.

I misss my mother. I cracked up at Dads e-mail because he mentioned the sickness that I had and he said " bout time you toughen up" because when I am sick I always have you and you always help me. It is true if anyone needs to toughen up they need to serve a mission.

I taught Primary on Sunday! It was soo fun. I loved it. Nice for a change rather than teaching Gospel Principles. But anyway mom I am going to head out. Me and Sister B want some pizza hut before we head off for FHE tonight. Love you and I am glad to know my family is doing great! :) Love you MOM and I am PROUD of YOU as well :) Tell everyone I love them. Bye!